Something Unexpected
by LJ Salvatore
Summary: When Jeremy comes across Jenna's diary, he's shocked to make an unexpected discovery-she had a daughter, Emme, who she never spoke about. Elena is horrified to discover the Ripper Stefan knows more about Emme than she does. Will Stefan make an attempt on Emme's life? Or is there more to this than meets the eye? Rated M for sexual scenes and bad language.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! This is my first Vampire Diaries fanfiction and I hope you like it :) as you will see it differs a bit from the actual television series. However, I'd better give you a bit of background; this takes place after Jenna was killed by Klaus as part of the sacrifice and after Stefan was turned into the heartless Ripper by Klaus. Jeremy still can't understand Jenna's death and finds it hard to accept so he spends a lot of his time going through Jenna's things and missing her. That's when he discovers that she had a daughter, called Emme, according to her own diary (which she kept a secret) and the story takes off from this point.

I hope you enjoy!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything but Emme.

Chapter One

Damon could sense there was something wrong with Elena almost before she realised it herself. She was acting off, a little odd and he couldn't explain why. It was understandable that she was feeling down. Her precious Stefan had been replaced by an emotionless Ripper who cared only for blood and his own entertainment. He saw Elena as nothing more than just a girl now and that was painful for her, Damon knew. To go from being the centre of someone's universe to being absolutely nothing must sting, especially for Elena. As much as he loved her he knew that she was spoilt by other people's affections; everyone always seemed to love Elena. It just came naturally to them to always put her first and now not even being a consideration for the man she loved, it was something that she wasn't used to and didn't want to have to get used to.

Damon knew that. Part of him didn't want to have to see her get used to Stefan's rejection either, he completely blanked her now whenever she tried talking to him, but at the same time a part of him felt that this was his chance. His chance to prove that he was the right brother for her, that Damon, despite being Damon, really could care about something, that he was the one who really loved Elena more than anything else, that she should choose him. Stefan had _bitten_ Elena, Stefan had become someone Elena didn't know, didn't want to know, Stefan was a danger. He couldn't handle what human blood made him become, when he had the urge to drink it, when he couldn't control himself he lost everything, he became a mad-man, and that was before Klaus had compelled him, now he was ten times worse. At least Damon had control, sure he killed people, he made sport of it, but he knew he could stop himself when he had to, he only drained people dry because he felt like it, not because he couldn't stop himself. He was perfect for Elena, now it was time for him to prove that to her.

But there was something else there; she was distracted and he wasn't convinced it had anything to do with Stefan at all. There was something bugging her and because it bugged her, it was bugging him too. He tried speaking to her about it, probing to see what the problem was, but she didn't speak to him. It was times like this that he wished he could compel her just to make her speak the truth to him. He'd tried talking to her again this morning, when he showed up at her house before she left for school, but once again she didn't reveal anything to him that he didn't already know. He'd get it out of her eventually. No one managed to keep secrets from Damon Salvatore forever, least of all something that had to do with Elena Gilbert.

'So let me get this straight your cousin is coming to stay and yet we've been best friends for how many years and only now do you mention you have a cousin?' Bonnie wasn't impressed when Elena told her, she expected that because Elena hadn't spoken of Emme before, and as she sat now at the picnic table during their lunch break Elena could practically feel the resentment rolling off of Bonnie in waves.

'I'm sorry I didn't tell you about her sooner but the truth is I only found out the truth about her a couple of days ago when Jeremy did some digging into Jenna's background. He was interested in finding out what Jenna was like as a teenager, he's still mourning her, Bonnie….I don't know, I think it was because she used to tell him about what she was like when she was younger and I guess Jeremy found it to be his way of remembering her. I'm not even sure how he found out about her daughter'. Elena's voice trailed off at the end. She still couldn't believe Jenna had a daughter and she'd never told Elena. She felt as betrayed as she had when she discovered that she was adopted and Jenna had kept it a secret from her. But then her parents hadn't wanted her to know and it hadn't been Jenna's place to tell her such a secret but this? This was Jenna's story to tell and she'd never told it. Elena couldn't figure out why. 'It just doesn't make sense to me or to Jer why Aunt Jenna never told us about her. Jeremy thought that maybe the reason why she never mentioned anything and we never met Emme is because…..Emme's dead'.

'Wait how do you know that?' Bonnie sat up straight, finally interested in the story.

Elena shrugged. 'Why else would Aunt Jenna not tell us about her? She wasn't the kind of person to keep a secret and if she had a baby then where was that baby? Did she give her up for adoption? I don't think so, she surely would have mentioned it by now. Aunt Jenna couldn't help but open her mouth and she trusted me, she would have trusted me with this, I know it. What else could it be other than it was too painful to open old wounds and she never thought to tell us because there was no chance we'd ever meet her?' It made sense to her. She'd been thinking it through over and over again in her head and it made perfect sense to her, Aunt Jenna had a baby when Elena was younger and didn't remember, or perhaps she had a baby when she'd left Mystic Falls for a life away from Virginia, and something had gone wrong. Then Aunt Jenna would never have wanted to tell that story, not to Elena when there was already so much sadness and death surrounding them.

Bonnie was shaking her head. 'I don't know, Elena. It just seems so…..anti-climatic, you know? You find out about your cousin and Jenna's daughter and then you discover that she's already dead, there seems something wrong there. I just have this feeling that this isn't the right version of events. Jenna isn't here to tell us the right one so I understand that you and Jeremy are going to have trouble finding out the truth, it's going to be harder without her here to tell you it, but I just-I don't believe it, Elena. I don't know why, it just doesn't seem real to me. I think she's alive, whoever she is, wherever she is, she's still around'.

Elena nodded her head slowly. 'I'd like to think so. If there could be anything left of Jenna then I would be grateful for it, I would. I don't know, Bonnie. I want to believe she is out there but at the same time I don't want to believe that there has been this child in the world all this time and she never said anything. Believing that her baby was dead it's easier for me to understand why she never spoke to me'.

'Everybody has secrets that they can't bring themselves to share with anyone else, Elena, you and I know that better than most'. Bonnie reminded her. 'All I am saying is don't give up on her just yet, there might be more to this, a lot more to this, than you think and you don't want to have that on your conscious that you could have known someone and you didn't try harder. Come on Elena, you know you don't want to give her up for dead just yet. Let's have it confirmed first'.

'You're right', Elena smiled gratefully. 'You always know the right thing to do, Bon. I'm glad I waited to speak with you'.

'You haven't told Damon?' Bonnie raised an eyebrow.

'No, I didn't really know whether he'd care. I mean, I know Stefan would….or the old Stefan would but Damon? I don't know, I don't think he really much cares for anyone unless it's to his advantage.' Elena stammered. She knew Damon loved her and cared for her, he'd listen if she wanted him to, but he wouldn't really be as fascinated by her mysterious cousin as she wanted him to be. But more than that she was now distracted by the thought of Stefan and what he would do if he was here, if the real Stefan was here, not the hollow, empty shell Klaus had left behind, a monster who cared for no one but himself, like a worse version of Damon. She knew that if Stefan was here right now everything would be okay, he would ask her questions about how much she knew, what resources she'd used to find out about this Emme person, and he'd do his best to help her. But that Stefan wasn't here and she had come to Bonnie instead. Maybe, just maybe, that would turn out to be the best decision she had ever made.

Damon wouldn't be happy with her for not telling him the truth. He was already suspicious. She'd hoped he would believe it was because she was caught up with all the Stefan business going on but he was no fool; he could see it was more than that. She didn't like keeping things from him but she wasn't sure whether this was going to be worth it. If Emme was dead then what was the point? Between Klaus, Stefan and blood Damon's time was occupied. Elena was going to do this without him, with Bonnie and Jeremy's help she was going to find out the truth about Jenna's daughter.

'So what would Emme's surname be?' Bonnie asked, munching on a sandwich. 'I might look her up on Facebook'.

Elena snorted. 'Are you serious, Bon? That's the extent of your research; Facebook? How are we going to find anyone worth finding on there?' She rolled her eyes.

'It's worth a try, you would be surprised how easy it is to find people on Facebook. So I guess I'm looking for an Emme Sommers, right?' Bonnie made a note of it before looking at the way Elena shook her head at her as though annoyed. 'Come on Elena! Give it a chance. We might discover something. And I won't just check Facebook, I'll just check all over the web. You could always ask the older residents of Mystic Falls if they know anything about Jenna having a baby. It's worth a try'. Bonnie smiled then her face changed, she looked surprised and confused and...worried. Elena spun round to see who she was looking at and gasped. Stefan.

'What is he doing here?' She hissed at Bonnie.

'I have no idea. ' Bonnie was watching Stefan sauntering around the playground, wearing sunglasses, as though he didn't have a care in the world and she was reminded of the first time she'd ever saw him, in the school office. How she had taken one look at the back of him and proclaimed him 'hot', she'd been right but since that moment the world had never been the same. Even though she wasn't happy to see him, even though she was furious at him for all the murders he'd committed recently, and wanted the old Stefan back she didn't treat him with the same contempt she treated Damon with; Damon chose this life, chose to be an asshole and Stefan was being compelled to do it. Even then, it had taken Klaus switching his humanity off, for him to become this way. No, Stefan was a good man, he was the best of his kind and she pitied what he had become. What happened when he stopped being compelled, if Klaus did indeed stop or if they managed to break it somehow? Would Stefan ever be the same again? Would Elena ever want him again?

'Good afternoon, ladies. Mind if I joined you? Of course you don't.' Stefan smirked as he sat opposite Elena. Bonnie immediately scooted away from him and he chuckled. 'What's the matter, Bon-Bon? Scared I'll give you cooties?'

'Stefan you really shouldn't be here'. Elena interrupted. 'You know it's not a good idea to be here. Maybe you should go home. I'm sure Damon went to the blood bank to get some, uhm, refills or whatever you call it. It's best if you go'.

'Aw Elena, you speak as if I'm supposed to give a shit what you're telling me to do. Didn't anyone ever tell you not to order around a vampire? It will only ever end badly. For you'. Stefan mocked her. 'Besides, as tempting as the thought of the blood bank sounds, I'd rather eat out today. There's so many ripe offerings on display'. He purposefully gestured towards all the kids milling around the playground, eating, laughing, shooting hoops, hurrying around, and he chuckled again. It was a repulsive sound, the sound of a man gone mad, someone who really didn't have a care in the world, didn't care who they hurt, whose life they took, who it affected, completely cold-blooded and heartless. This was what he had become and the thought almost made Bonnie buckle at the knees. What was wrong with him? Where was Stefan? She wanted him back. She wasn't keen on vampires, not at all, her genes, her family history, showed that but she'd been keener on Stefan. Not now.

'If you so much as harm a hair on one person's head in this school or outside of it I will not hesitate to kill you'. Bonnie warned him.

'Is that meant to be a threat, sweetheart? If you keep making threats like that then I will not hesitate to kill you and then where will you be? No more witchy and all these precious people left to fend for themselves against me. I could have a feast. I would start off with all the people who mean the most to you. How's Matt doing by the way?' Stefan winked at her and Bonnie had the urge to slap him. But one thing she did know was that slapping a vampire was never the sensible thing to do in any situation. Giving him an aneurysm was a tempting thought but it did genuinely scare her what he would do when she stopped. Even Damon had a limit, this ripper, this thing that Stefan was now didn't and that did scare her even though she wouldn't admit it to him. She was a Bennett, they didn't scare easily.

'Stefan, please don't do this'. Elena begged him. 'You don't have to be like this. You don't have to threaten people. You don't have to be this person, Stefan. We can help you'.

'I don't want your help, Miss Gilbert. Thanks but no thanks. If I ever get that desperate I'll keep you in careful consideration but until then I will be doing my own thing without either you or your little witch here trying to interfere every five seconds. Do give my regards to my brother, won't you? I won't be home tonight and I'm worried he might miss me'. Stefan smirked again before giving Bonnie one last look but this...this was different, she wasn't sure whether it was threatening or something else. It certainly looked like a warning glance at first but not full of murderous threats but something else. It was almost...seductive. But it couldn't be because she was Bonnie Bennett and he was Stefan Salvatore and, humanity or no humanity, it would never ever be possible for her to be seduced by him or for him to want to do that. As Stefan got up to leave he turned back to them but this time he looked straight at Elena. Elena couldn't help but feel her heart flutter a little bit at the way he looked at her, as though he was seeing her properly again and for a brief second she foolishly thought he was back. 'Before I go, I thought I'd let you know that I agree with Bonnie, Emme is not dead. But instead of me going on a foolish feeling like little Miss Bennett here, I know it for a fact. Have a good day now'. He gave them one last smirk before disappearing into the crowd and God knows where

Bonnie and Elena looked at one another. How did he know?

They waited until they were sure he was gone before Bonnie began to panic. 'Okay, so your cousin is alive and we have to do something before Stefan does. We have to find her, we have to know her, I don't trust Stefan not to do something to her'.

'You really think Stefan would hurt my cousin when Jeremy and I have been spending all this time searching for her?' Elena seemed doubtful but knew there was no point trying to have faith in Stefan because he had no humanity now. There was no reason why he wouldn't hurt her cousin and cos Elena didn't know the first thing about the girl how could she protect her? They could do nothing except hope Stefan wouldn't touch her, that maybe he would give them enough hints for them to find out about her so they could speak to her. As if everything wasn't complicated enough now Stefan was involved and this made everything ten times more difficult. 'Do you really think he would, Bonnie? Honestly?'

'Honestly? I don't know, Elena. I want to trust that Stefan would never be capable of that but he's capable of everything now and he doesn't care. Elena, you mean nothing to him right now and I know that hurts to hear it but there's no changing that right now. He has no humanity, Elena. If he feels like killing Emme, whoever she is, then he will do it, I don't doubt it'. Bonnie confessed.

_'You mean nothing to him now'. _Elena couldn't pretend that didn't hurt but it was true, like Bonnie said, he had no reason not to kill Emme if that was what he wanted to do. She didn't know what else she was going to do so she took a deep breath and spoke quietly. 'Bonnie, we have no choice. We have to tell Damon'.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you for the reviews. Sorry to have kept you waiting. It wasn't on purpose, just have been very busy. Anyway hope you enjoy the update.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing.

Chapter Two

'Damon we need to talk'. Elena called as she walked into the boardinghouse and dropped her bag on one of the couches.

Damon was surprised to see her but pleasantly so as he stood in the kitchen, pouring some of the blood from one of the blood bags he'd got from the hospital into a cup. 'Oh lovely to see you too, light of my life'. He replied sarcastically strolling into the room and giving her a stern look. 'Something tells me we should have this talk a long time ago. Spill'.

'You're right, we should have but I didn't really know what to say and it wasn't something that I...well, I wasn't sure that you'd care'. Elena was embarrassed. She knew by the expression on his face that she should have told him a long time ago. He didn't like her keeping things from him even when she didn't want to and assuming he wouldn't care was a little unfair. If something bothered her, it bothered him and she should have told him. 'I found out something a few days ago and it's been bothering me. I didn't really know what to say but...well basically Jenna has a daughter that we didn't know about til now and somehow Stefan knows her'.

'Wait, hold up a second. Are you being serious?' Damon leaned forward. His face was masked so she couldn't tell exactly what he was thinking but he seemed concerned. 'Jenna had a daughter? But how, she was like 30 and she never mentioned having a child'.

'I don't know. I assumed that maybe she'd had a stillborn or something before she moved back to Mystic Falls and that was why she never mentioned it to us but then Stefan said that he knew her so she's obviously alive. I just don't know what to do. I don't know anything about her but all I know is that Stefan is dangerous, Damon, even more dangerous than you are when he's like this and I'm scared he might hurt her or he's already been hurting her'. Elena's voice trailed off as she remembered the look in Stefan's eyes when he'd mentioned Emme's name and the fear that had shot through her at the thought that he might have done something to the cousin she didn't even know.

Damon was thinking, she could tell by the way his forehead creased. She wanted to joke about how if they kept running into problems he'd soon end up with a brooding forehead like Stefan but now was not the time for jokes and besides Stefan didn't brood over anything any more. He just went round killing, torturing, maiming and having a great time doing it. 'What's the name of the girl? Do you know? How did you even find out about this?'

'Jenna kept a journal or a diary type thing and Jeremy came across it when he was looking through some of her stuff. The girl's name is Emme but I don't know what her surname is'. Elena answered. 'Do you know her too?'

Damon shrugged. 'I meet and know a lot of people, Elena. I don't remember their names. I seriously doubt it though. Stefan's never mentioned an Emme either so it must be recently that he discovered her. It's possible that he's been feeding off her for a few weeks and that he knew all along about the family connection between you two and he's trying to get back at you in some way. In fact, that sounds exactly like something he would do'.

'No it doesn't!' Elena insisted. 'Stefan is not like that. He's not that-he's not evil, Damon!'

'Elena, how can you say that? Stefan is going around killing and torturing people and you still refuse to believe that he's capable of this? Of course he is! Him feeding on Emme is not as bad as him killing her so that's an improvement at least.' Damon was seething inside. She saw all the bad things his brother was doing and yet she still made excuses for him, she still refused to see that he was capable of absolutely anything. 'This is not the Stefan that you know and love, Elena, I don't know where he is but all I know is that part of him is gone. This ripper Stefan is dangerous and he will do whatever he wants whenever he wants. The sooner you accept that, the better'.

Elena's eyes watered. 'And what if I don't want to accept it?'

Damon sighed, trying to hide his frustration. 'Then you are going to have to come up with a whole lot of excuses for the way he's behaving and fast because he's only going to get worse.'

Elena hid her head in her hands. 'I never wanted this to happen. I never wanted any of this'. She sat back up, letting the tears fall freely down her cheeks. 'Why is everything such a mess all the time? Why can't I just have a normal life? One minute everything's fine and the next, it's all a mess again. I don't understand why this keeps happening, Damon. I don't understand how every time I finally come to terms with something, something else comes along and knocks me down again'.

Damon wasn't used to crying girls and he didn't like seeing a crying Elena. He walked over to her and wrapped an arm around her, allowing her to sob into his chest. It upset him sometimes how upset she'd get over Stefan but not because she couldn't bear to see Stefan the way he was, she didn't cry for every person who died because of him but mainly she cried because he didn't love her right now, any more. She refused to believe that he might never love her again. She still loved him and she always would. What Stefan did was far and beyond anything Damon ever did and yet she hated that side of Damon, she told him as much, part of her still resented him for the things he did but no matter how badly Stefan behaved she still made excuses for him, she still believed that he wasn't bad. And how was that even fair? Damon had proven himself to her over and over again and yet it was always about Stefan.

'We're wasting time worrying about Stefan when we really should be concentrating on Emme'. Elena said, moving back and wiping away her tears.

'I wasn't wasting any time worrying about Stefan. In my world, there are always at least a hundred and one other things to worry about before Stefan comes into question, like watching paint dry...okay, not funny'. He stopped when he saw her face. 'But seriously Elena, you could spend the rest of your life crying over Stefan and he was but he's not the same man now and you just have to accept it. Or at least long enough for us to discover your cousin. You think you can handle that?'

'Of course'. Elena nodded. 'But I don't know where to start. We have nothing to go on. Bonnie suggested looking on Facebook but Aunt Jenna didn't have a child old enough to have a Facebook'.

'You sure about that?' Damon raised an eyebrow.

'Yes, Aunt Jenna wasn't old enough to have a child older than ten, I guess, and she must have had a baby when she was away from Mystic Falls. If Emme is alive, then I'm assuming she's probably about five'. Elena mused.

'Don't assume things, Elena, you always seem to get it so wrong'. Damon smirked. 'Like the assumption that Stefan was the best brother for you but there's another time for me to brag about that. All I'm saying is as young as Jenna was she wasn't that young that she couldn't possibly have a teenage child'.

'Damon, you said yourself she was only 30 when Klaus turned her so how could she have a teenager?' Elena argued.

'Isobel was only a teenager when she had you, it's entirely possible that Jenna was too and, like Isobel, she gave the child up to be adopted'. Damon pointed out. 'I don't think it's impossible. As Jenna said herself, she was pretty wild in her youth but she didn't say exactly how wild.'

'I know but wild enough to have a baby at like 16?' Elena thought it through. 'Or even younger...oh come on Damon, this is Aunt Jenna we're talking about. She wasn't Isobel. If she'd had a baby that young I don't believe she would have given her up'.

'But she must have for you not to know about her'. Damon reasoned with her. 'Elena, whether you like it or not Jenna had a baby and she didn't tell you or Jeremy about it. It doesn't matter if Emme is a teenager or not, Jenna had a child and she didn't tell you. I know it hurts to be kept in the dark about it but you're going to have to deal with it one way or another'.

Elena bit her lip and tried not to look more upset than she felt. She couldn't be selfish now, thinking only of her own feelings, she had to put Emme's safety first and whether she liked it or not she knew she couldn't trust Stefan not to hurt the girl. She nodded towards Damon. 'How do you think that we could find her?'

'Ask Stefan'. Damon shrugged. When Elena rolled her eyes he stopped her. 'I'm being serious, Elena'.

'Damon, you can't be! If we ask Stefan then we just make it even more obvious that we're looking for her and he'll go after her. He'll do it to...I don't know, I just have a bad feeling about this, Damon.' Elena's big brown eyes were wide open with anticipation and concern and Damon had to stop himself from becoming distracted by her beauty. 'What if Stefan tries to make a statement?'

'It's too late for that. He overheard your conversation with the witch and Barbie and realised what was going on. He knows you're looking for Jenna's daughter so there's no point us being kept in the dark because we're too scared to talk to him about something he already knows about. Let's stop patronising him and just ask him what he knows'. Damon reasoned with her. 'Look, if we ask him and he gives him some information then I will get there faster than Stefan, as long as you and Judgey keep an eye out, and then I will check on her and make sure everything is okay'.

'I want to be the one who meets her though, Damon, not you'. Elena replied, frustrated. She was desperate to meet this interesting new piece of the ever growing puzzle.

'I know that and you will, once I can make sure that she's fine'. Damon explained. 'It's a plan, Elena. It's a plan we didn't have five minutes ago, isn't it?'

Elena nodded. 'I guess so'. She didn't like it though. She didn't like it one bit. She wanted to make sure Emme was okay, she wanted to be the one to meet her, but she knew that if Stefan turned up that she would have no chance of protecting her against Stefan. Stefan was just so much stronger than her, especially with the human blood he was drinking now, and with his vampiric speed and his lack of emotion he could easily kill both her and Emme just for fun. 'Just for fun', because that was what Stefan did now. He did things to entertain himself, he found enjoyment in hurting other people and ruining people's lives, and every time Elena thought of what he had become it made her want to break down all over again. She felt hatred bubbling in her stomach for Klaus, the monster who had made her Stefan into a monster just like him except the difference was Klaus could still feel, Stefan couldn't unless Klaus let him, unless he somehow switched his humanity back on again but praying Klaus would do anything good, anything to help her, was a waste of time. He didn't care. She wondered for a second if maybe Klaus was in on this, maybe he had told Stefan to go after Emme, but she doubted it; he was busy doing other things. Or at least she hoped he was.

'You think too much'. Damon observed before finishing his cup. 'You really need to relax sometimes instead of being so uptight. You're turning into Bonnie and then you'll be no fun at all. The horror'. He pretended to shiver and she smacked him on the arm playfully. 'Ouch, that really hurt my feelings Elena'.

'I can do more than that, you know'. Elena smiled and kissed him.

There was a loud cough from behind them and they moved apart. Damon noticed how Elena moved as far away from him as possible, wiping her mouth, when she realised it was her Stefan standing there. Stefan just seemed amused by the little scene he'd stumbled upon and he smirked. 'You two really are the cutest couple going, aren't you?' He chuckled. 'It's a shame there's no Prom any time soon because you guys would be the most adorable Prom king and queen of all time.' He winked at Elena. 'King Damon, now that sounds bad-ass. Bet you couldn't resist'. He helped himself to some of the blood from the bags in the kitchen.

'That's mine'. Damon called to him, fuming that he had to return home just as he was finally getting to the good part.

'Oh sure, I forgot. I'll go out and get my own then, shall I? I'm sure there's some beautiful young teenage girl out there I can feast on'. Stefan responded. He could have meant anyone but by the way his eyes focused on Elena with a mysterious glint he meant someone else.

'You wouldn't dare touch Bonnie! She'll fry your brain before you even got near her'. Elena blurted out.

'How do you know I was talking about Bonnie?' Stefan quizzed her. 'For all you know I could be talking about Amber or Monique or Taylor or-or maybe I could be talking about Emme'.

Elena's mouth flew open. 'So Emme really is a teenager?'

'You didn't know that already?' Stefan was entertained by her surprise and how little she knew of the girl she was supposed to be protecting, from him if her conversation with Damon was anything to go by. It was funny just how stupid Damon was not to even anticipate that he might have been there all along, when Elena was around he wasn't even in control of his senses. He was pitiful, weak, an embarrassment. Had Stefan once been like this? He hoped not. Seeing his brother being a hopeless lovesick puppy to some annoyingly cringe-worthy teen was awful enough without having been there himself. 'So,' he added as he turned to leave 'seems like your precious Aunt Jenna was quite a slut in her youth. It clearly runs in the family'.


	3. Chapter 3

Hope it's not too short. I forget how much it takes to upload a chapter haha. Hopefully this chapter isn't too bad. Hope you like it anyway.

Thanks for the reviews!

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything.

Chapter Three

Stefan watched as he caught sight of Elena walking from the boardinghouse towards her car, ready to return home. Damon was beside her, ready to say goodbye to her when she kissed him. Stefan chuckled to himself. Once upon a time that would have broken his heart, completely destroyed him and now? Now he didn't care. Nothing affected him and it felt great! In fact it felt amazing to be able to shut it all off and do whatever he wanted without having to feel anything. He was having a good time, a better time than he'd ever had, he didn't struggle with trying to be a good person any more, there was no point, he was a monster and there was nothing he could do to change that. He could either choose to deny or accept it and now he chose to embrace it.

He was hidden by a tree, watching as Elena got into the car and drove off. He wanted to follow her and antagonise her some more. But then he thought of something that would antagonise her even more and he couldn't resist, chuckling even more that he hadn't thought of this earlier.

Emme was in the living room, staring out of the window at the world going by and trying to drown out the sound of her annoying foster mother nagging her about this and that. She was fed up. She just wanted some excitement in her life, sometime where she could be herself and let loose rather than trying to act like some kind of perfect child so that she wouldn't be sent back to the children's home again. She hated that place. She hated everything. It wasn't fair how she'd been treated or how her life had turned out and it left her feeling bitter. So many girls she saw at school had lives ten times better than she could even dream of and they still complained about everything; their nails breaking, accidentally wearing the wrong colour lip gloss or they didn't have enough money to go to the mall and buy the latest designer outfit.

And then there was her. She didn't have any parents, she didn't have any money whatsoever and she'd never been able to wear lip gloss or have artificial nails or anything like that. She didn't even know how to start to complain because there was too much to complain about, she'd never stop. But then recently things had changed. She'd met this guy. He was amazing but he tried to pretend he wasn't. She sensed that he was a great guy but he tried to act all hard and tough all the time and it made her laugh. She'd once made the mistake of actually laughing about it in his face and his face had scared her. She wasn't quite sure what it was about him but she knew she couldn't mess with him. He gave her attention though, attention she desperately needed, and she wanted even more. He spent some time with her here and there, she wasn't entirely sure where he lived but she was pretty sure he didn't live here, in Richmond, she'd see him around. She was always out and about, she didn't like spending much time in the house with her foster house Anne, she was old and cranky and she was too old and too cranky for Emme's liking.

She couldn't even tell you what the beautiful boy's name was because he never told her. It didn't matter to her though. She didn't care if he never told her his name, as long as he gave her attention and made sure that she wasn't lonely all the time it didn't matter. She was staring out of the window trying so hard to see something other than Anne's face looming over hers, nagging about her schoolwork and how important her education was and how she had to start working harder at school. She gave a start and almost screamed when she saw a pair of dark green eyes staring back at her, motioning for her to come outside. He was here.

'Anne.' She interrupted the woman's tirade quickly. 'Can I go outside please?'

'No you most certainly cannot.' Anne pursed her lips. 'I'm trying to talk to you about something very important and you are completely ignoring me. What has come over you, girl? Do you want me to send you back to the home?'

'No of course not. I appreciate you giving me a home more than anything.' Emme gave her the usual speech even though inside she was panicking because she wanted to go outside before he disappeared. She hoped against hope he wouldn't leave yet. 'Anne, I really feel sick.'

'Well you'd best go get some fresh air then.' Anne sighed. 'Just don't be outside for too long, mind. I don't want you going off gallivanting somewhere.'

'I won't.' Emme agreed quickly before rushing out of the living room and out of the kitchen door leading into the garden. He was waiting for her behind the old oak tree and she approached him cautiously. Sometimes he scared her, he gave her this vibe that he was dangerous and couldn't be trusted and yet...she trusted him. She'd never had anyone to trust before, she'd never had her faith in people broken before because she'd had no one to give it to. She wasn't going to push away the only person who was actually there for her.

'Good evening.' He smirked as she walked over towards him. 'What kind of symptoms are you experiencing?' His eyes were shining with cheerful teasing and she almost stumbled backwards involuntarily. She couldn't believe what she was just hearing. Was he serious? She felt sick now, just like the lie she'd spun Anne. He'd somehow heard what she said to Anne. It was impossible! How could he have heard?

'I-I made it up. I just needed to get out of there.' She didn't want to add 'to see you' even though she knew he probably knew that was why.

'You mean you lied?' He gave her a fake gasp and chuckled at her facial expression. 'I'm shocked. I never expected that from such a little sweetheart. I didn't know that I was that important.'

She looked up sharply at that. 'You're not. I mean, I wasn't. I came out here because she was annoying. I can't deal with her. I don't know why they found the most annoying old woman imaginable. It's like they're trying to punish me.'

'They?' He frowned.

'The children's home. I've been there since I was a baby apparently and they kept fostering me out to different people but no one ever wanted to give me a permanent home. I didn't know what else to do so I agreed to come with this Anne person. I didn't want to be in the Home any more but then I wish I hadn't come here after all.' Emme's voice trailed off. She hated talking about her life because it made it sound like she was complaining and that was the last thing she liked to do.

'Don't be like that. If you didn't come here, you wouldn't have met me and that would have been most upsetting. For you, of course.' He grinned at her and she blushed.

'Maybe you're right.' She said slowly and looked down at the ground.

'Emme, can I ask you something?' He asked her, suddenly serious. He was pulling something from his pocket.

'Yes.' She was puzzled. And her heart rate increased when it crossed her mind he might want her number.

'Can I take a picture with you?' He asked her with a bashful grin.

She agreed and he slung his arm casually around her shoulder and took the shot, before putting his phone back into his pocket, grinning. 'So this foster mother of yours.' He said slowly. 'Want me to take care of her for you?'

'Take care of her in what way?' She was alarmed now. He'd always been perfectly charming to her but there was something underneath it all which kept her on her guard around him.

She wanted to scream when he smirked at her and she realised, with a chill creeping up her spine, that what he was suggesting to do to her foster mother was far from friendly. Why did she get the impression that he was offering to hurt Anne for her or even worse? 'Stop it.' She told herself. She was freaking herself out for no reason and had to stop thinking the worst of people all the time.

'I'm only joking, Emme.' He winked at her. 'I need to go now.'

Even though he scared her she felt disappointed he was leaving so soon. 'Oh, okay. When will you come back?'

'I'm not sure. I'll come back sometime though, I promise'. He looked bored, yawning. 'But if you want me to keep coming back then I suggest that you begin interesting me. Your little sob stories are really pissing me off. Next time find a way to entertain me or I won't bother coming back.'

_Ouch._

She blinked back tears, it was so stupid to cry over someone's comments.

'Please don't start with the tears.' He said loudly. 'I have to go, Emme. I'll be back sometime. If it makes you feel any better then I apologise.'

She nodded before storming back off to her house. She felt something weird come over her, like she could sense something and she turned back to find him standing right behind her and had to control herself before she accidentally screamed and Anne came out.

'I forgot to ask you something before you so rudely walked off without saying goodbye.' His eyes were smouldering and it occurred to her just how good-looking he really was. 'When I come back to see you am I invited in?'

'What?' She asked, a little bemused.

'I said can I come in? Just say it and I promise you I will come back.' He told her. He looked so earnest she couldn't resist.

'Okay, you're invited in.' She muttered but it was loud enough for him to hear. He smiled and turned away. 'Wait! I've invited you into my house and I don't even know your name. Doesn't seem fair.'

'Well we can't have that, can we now?' He chuckled. 'I'm Stefan.'

Stefan. A beautiful name for a beautiful boy.

Damon was pissed off. He was fed up of Stefan trying to act like some whacked-out version of himself. He was so stupid to think that making Stefan the ripper version was supposed to be a good idea. It was an awful idea. Now Elena was still too busy worrying about what he was doing to care about anything else. It was always Stefan, isn't it Elena? Damon thought bitterly and laid back on his bed, trying to relax. Sleep hadn't come in a while and he doubted he would get any today. It wasn't as though he needed it but it was sometimes useful to pass the time and recharge his batteries.

Something was beeping. It was annoying him, he wasn't sure what it was. But it was making a really annoying noise and he wanted it to stop so he got up off the bed, grumbling to himself as he searched for the source of the noise. He realised it was coming from his phone and snatched it up. Maybe Elena had found a lead on her cousin or something, it had to be something like that. He had a new multimedia message and he frowned. What on earth? It took him a second to realise what was going on and then he almost dropped his phone in shock. It was very clear what he was looking at.

It was Stefan and a beautiful young girl with long dark curly hair and brown eyes, she had olive skin and she was stunning but the thing that hit home more than anything was that she was like a younger version of Elena. Sure, she was more tanned and her hairstyle was different and, if Damon was completely honest, she was probably more attractive than Elena, but that wasn't important. What was important that this looked very much like what he'd expect Emme to look like and it occurred to him that Stefan must have been with her recently or she was still with him now and he couldn't stop the panic in his chest. He didn't worry about people, he didn't usually care but today he did, he had to, because Elena cared about this young woman and so she had to mean something to him too.

Damon quickly dialled Elena's number and waited for her to pick up. Why did it always take her so long to pick up the darn phone?

'Hello?' He instinctively smiled at the sound of her voice. 'Damon is everything okay?'

'No, it's not okay. I think you better come over right now.' He told quickly.

'What is it, Damon?' She asked him.

'I think I might have a lead on Emme. But it's a worrying one and we have to do something now. Hurry up, Elena.'

'I'm on my way.'


	4. Chapter 4

Hope you enjoy :D Some reviews please?! Thanks.

**Disclaimer: **I own only Emme.

Chapter Four

'What's going on?' Elena asked as she rushed into the house, throwing her bag down on the floor, not even noticing where she threw it and rushing through into the living room. 'Damon?'

'This is what's going on.' He said sharply walking towards her and as she took the phone from his hand he kissed her on the cheek. She barely even cared about the romantic gesture that he was making and he sighed. 'This girl I believe could be Emme.'

'She's beautiful.' Elena murmured. 'Why did Stefan send you this? Why would he do such a thing?'

Damon rolled his eyes. 'How many more times do I have to remind you that the Stefan you know and love isn't the same Stefan in the sense that he no longer cares? Elena, Stefan is different now. He's taken on his hunter instincts and part of that instinct is to play with your food so to speak. Stefan is simply trying to aggravate you before he kills Emme.'

'He would do that?' Elena looked up at him in shock. 'Oh for goodness sake Damon I don't need telling twice! I know that Stefan is different now, of course I know that but it doesn't make it any better. There is a young teenage girl at his mercy and I don't know how we're supposed to stop him this time Damon! How are we going to stop him?'

'I don't know, Elena.' Damon looked bored. 'If I knew that I would have swooped in and saved her already like some kind of superhero.' He frowned. 'Or maybe an anti-superhero. I'd be good at that.'

'Just shut up!' Elena snapped at him, her eyes half-mad. 'You're still standing there talking about yourself when my cousin could be dead by now. Jenna's daughter, the last connection we have with Aunt Jenna, could be dead and all you can do is stand here talking about how to make yourself look good? Save it Damon! I have another way.'

Damon's mouth fell open in shock. She'd never spoken to him like this before. He didn't know if he found it sexy or just insulting. He decided now wasn't the time to debate the situation. 'So what are you going to do then?'

'I can get Bonnie to perform some kind of locator spell so we can go and see whether she's okay. I don't know why, Damon, it's not just me holding on to a part of Stefan that might be good but...I don't understand this. I don't think Stefan is trying to wind us up before he kills her, I think he's manipulating us in a different way. Maybe he's trying to make me jealous.' Elena explained.

Damon was secretly impressed. She'd come up with a plan pretty quickly even if it did involve that awful judgey...person. He'd call her that for now. There was plenty of time to think of worse names for her later. But the second part made no sense. Not any more anyway. 'It's not possible, Elena. He's not going to make you jealous because he no longer cares about you.'

She swallowed heavily. Sometimes she thought Damon liked rubbing in that fact to make everything worse for her but she knew it was more than that. It was his way of trying to make it clear to her that Damon was better for her. 'No, you're right. Stefan no longer cares about me but he knows that I love him and always will. He's trying to play with my emotions by flirting with my cousin.'

Damon snorted. 'Perhaps or perhaps he's just hungry and he was feeling generous by at least letting you see her before he killed her. So kind of him. Sounds like something I would do.'

She couldn't help but agree with that. It was such a Damon thing to do but even more devious. Stefan really had become her worst nightmare; she'd never thought she could meet anyone more ruthless than Damon, except Klaus maybe, but then there was this new side of Stefan that was unlike anything she'd ever dealt with before. 'Or maybe this is nothing to do with my cousin and he's just trying to excite us for no reason.'

'Do I look excited to you?' Damon raised an eyebrow. 'I can tell you that I am hungry, I am pissed off and I am fed up of it always being about Stefan but I am most certainly not excited so if that was his plan then it didn't work.'

'This isn't about you, this is about me!' Elena insisted. 'He's trying to hurt me. He knows he can't hurt you because there isn't much point. You can just switch your humanity off and then it won't hurt you anymore. I'm human, I can't switch off my emotions.'

'Well whether it's a prank or not, Elena, I think we need to get over to judgey's and make her do this locator spell now rather than standing here arguing about dear Stefie's motives. If it's not her, it's not her but if it is her then we have to do something and fast.' Damon grabbed her by the arm and before she could protest he was pulling her out of the door and towards the Bennett household and an end to this drama. Or that's what he hoped for anyway.

They reached Bonnie's house in practically no time at all and Elena sighed as she watched Damon banging on the front door. She hoped that for once he managed to hold his tongue and behave himself around her best friend so that it wouldn't cause trouble. She didn't have time to waste for them to spend it sharing snide comments with each other. She could trust Bonnie to do her best around Damon, it was just hard for her to bite her tongue around him and she could feel Bonnie drifting away from her again because of it.

They didn't spend as much time together as they should. Bonnie didn't approve of Damon and she approved even less of Elena being with him. Elena knew inwardly Bonnie was disgusted that she was now with Stefan's brother and thought badly of her but she would never admit it because she would feel guilty for ever saying anything.

'Hey judgey, think you could spare some time from your oh so fascinating life of magic spells and homework to help me?' Elena heard him say as she got out of the car and followed him towards Bonnie's house.

'Why would I ever want to help you?' Bonnie coolly stared him down. It startled Elena to think that Bonnie was really the only person who could have this effect on Damon; to be strong enough to stick up for herself against him. Caroline tried but Damon never took her seriously; with Bonnie he did. And for some odd reason it annoyed her.

'Actually it's not to help me as such, it's more to stop an innocent teenager possibly being slaughtered by my brother. But that aside it would be nice for you to one day give me a deserved welcome. Like a 'hey Damon, how are you? It's so nice to see your handsome face brightening up my boring day.' But instead you stand there with your judgey attitude being all up yourself.' Damon fumed and Elena pulled him back.

'Just ignore him, Bonnie. We're wasting time. I need your help. Please Bonnie, I need you.' Elena begged and Bonnie moved to one side allowing her friend to enter the house. She turned to tell Damon to wait there and he was gone.

'Forgetting something?' She heard someone whispering in her ear and she snapped her head around to see Damon smirking at her. 'You already invited me in once. I don't need another invitation. Now I can come inside the Bennett household anytime I choose.'

It would frighten anyone else if they weren't Bonnie Bennett. She didn't scare easily. She wasn't at all surprised that he was being obnoxious, this was Damon. He didn't know how to behave. He was always like this. The thought that she could put him in a lot of pain made her smile. Sometimes being a witch was hard work but one of the biggest benefits to it was definitely being able to give stupid arrogant vampires aneurysms and watch them writhe around in pain.

'Bonnie can you perform a locator spell to help us find Emme?' Elena asked. Bonnie sighed. It was always about doing something for Elena. Sometimes she thought that was all she was good for and it made her mad. It made her want to scream with anger at times. There was no doubting Elena could be incredibly self-centred but at the same time she knew her life would be easier if she didn't argue that point. Now wasn't the time anyway.

'I don't think so.' Bonnie shook her head.

Elena's heart sunk. 'But you're a witch. Surely you should be able to do something to help us.'

'I can only perform a locator spell if you have a lock of hair that I can use. It's part of the spell, without it there's nothing I can do.' Bonnie sighed. 'I'm sorry.'

Elena rolled her eyes. 'Are you sure?'

'What?'

'Are you sure you're sorry or you can't be bothered to help us?' Bonnie had to blink twice at the harshness of Elena's tone. 'I know that I ask a lot of you Bonnie, sometimes too much but this is beyond important. You must be able to do something.'

'Elena, regardless of everything even if I hated you I wouldn't risk a person's life because I was too lazy to help. That's ridiculous. When I say I can't do something it's because I can't do something. I'm sorry, Elena.' Bonnie's eyes were bright with anger. 'Anyway Stefan probably doesn't even know this girl. He overheard our conversation and he's bluffing to annoy you.'

Elena bit her lip. 'I thought of that. Maybe it's that or maybe he's being serious. Right now we just have to make sure that whoever the girl is in the picture that she's okay.'

'What girl?' Bonnie asked, confused.

'This girl.' Damon spoke at last, pulling his phone out of his back pocket. 'My witty little brother decided to send me this.' He found the appropriate photo he was searching for and showed it to Bonnie.

'You're not going to need a locator spell.' Bonnie said calmly taking the phone from him.

'What? How else are we going to find her?' Elena asked indignantly.

'I know her.' Bonnie said quietly. 'I know exactly who she is. Elena, this is Anne's foster daughter. Anne was a friend of my Grams before she died and she fostered kids. Before Grams died we went to visit Anne and she introduced us to her latest foster child. I remember now…..her name was Emme but it never seemed relevant. I never put two and two together but now I think of it this is her. It has to be her. She even looks like Jenna a little bit and she looks like you too, Elena.'

Elena was stunned by the turn of events. 'Was Anne a witch too?'

'No.' Bonnie shook her head. 'She was just a human, nothing important but she and Grams went to school together. She's a lot older than she looks. She always did look younger than everyone else at school according to Grams. She was the popular kid, then she got older, found out she had fertility problems and couldn't have kids and decided to foster them instead. Grams always spoke extremely highly of her. I suppose that Emme is probably in good hands.'

'That's assuming she's still in her care.' Damon added. 'Emme was her foster child so therefore there's a chance she might already have moved on to another family. They don't stay there forever'. It was a good point and it meant that yet another clue could end up leading to a dead-end but they needed to find her now. They couldn't wait any more.

'Then what are we going to do?' Elena asked.

'We're going to have to go and make sure she's okay, of course.' Bonnie concluded. ' I know where Anne lives. It's in Richmond. Think we could make it?'

'With me driving?' Damon raised an eyebrow. 'I'm insulted that you think we won't. Come on. If Stefan can make it there and back that quickly then of course we can. Now get in the car. We're leaving.'

Elena sighed and followed them out. She felt a sense of anticipation running through her. She was finally going to meet her cousin and all she could do was hope that Stefan hadn't done anything to her first. She believed he hadn't, she truly believed he wouldn't touch her but at the same time she knew she couldn't trust him. She'd be a fool to. She had to trust Damon now, and Bonnie too, together they'd make sure that Emme was fine and then she could return to Mystic Falls feeling better about the whole thing and hopefully move on with her life.

'Bonnie, hang on a second.' She called to her friend as she walked out into the street. 'I'm sorry for what I said earlier. I shouldn't have said anything. I was wrong. You're a good friend and sometimes I don't deserve you.'

Bonnie smiled. 'It's okay, Elena. I just wish sometimes that you could see everyone else around you for who they really are. You treat the ones who care for you like shit and treat the asses like kings. It's not normal, Elena, and it's certainly not fair. I just think you needed telling.' She added before walking over towards Damon who was mockingly holding the car door open for her.

As Elena walked over to join them Damon put a hand out to stop her. 'Elena, go home.'

'What? No, I'm coming.' She insisted.

'Elena, I'm telling you now go home. She doesn't know you, we don't want to startle her, I just want to check she's okay then get out of there. That's all we want to do. I'm only taking Bonnie because she knows Anne and it makes it less suspicious. I don't think it's fair to interfere with this kid's life anymore than we already have.'

'Damon-'

'No, Elena.' He said firmly. 'If we introduce you to each other that means someone else gets brought into a life that's way too crazy for them. They get mixed up with vampires and blood and death and I don't want anyone else having to deal with that. I know this sounds harsh but you being her cousin is the worst thing that could ever happen to her because she will end up getting hurt if we're not careful. Stefan will find someone else to torture once he realises we have no more interest in her and the girl can go on living her normal life. She doesn't have to have anything to do with this anymore. I'm sorry Elena, it's a no.' Damon told her so passionately she couldn't bear to argue with him over this. In a way he was right. Being related to Elena Gilbert got you killed. She didn't want that happening to Emme so if she had to stay away then she would.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Own nothing.

Chapter Five

Elena was miserable and she just stared sadly out of the boardinghouse window. She'd never wanted any of this and it upset her that it had come to this. She was being kept away from her own relatives because knowing her was dangerous. Beware of Elena Gilbert because all those she cared about either ended up dead or some kind of supernatural freak. Look at her best friends; Bonnie and Caroline. Sure, Bonnie had always been a witch but her grandmother wouldn't be dead if Stefan hadn't felt the need to stick around in Mystic Falls to know Elena and then Damon came along as well. Caroline wouldn't be a vampire now either, there wouldn't be any vampires still in Mystic Falls. The vampires wouldn't have been released from the tomb, the Salvatores wouldn't be here, the device wouldn't have gone off and then the car wouldn't have crashed. Caroline would still be human.

But then Elena was wrong about that, she usually was. She thought Damon had come back because of Stefan but of course that wasn't true. He'd come back for Katherine, that's why, or that's what he told her.

Either way Elena felt responsible for everything that happened to her friends and everything that had happened in Mystic Falls in recent years. It seemed like she was linked to it all in some weird way and she hated it.

She could just imagine what Bonnie and Damon were doing right now. She almost smiled at the thought of the argument they were probably having on their way to Richmond. Bonnie would no doubt complain about the speed Damon drove at and then he would come up with some arrogant quip. She knew them both far too well and loved them far too much.

As the front door slammed shut she was reminded of who else she loved too much even if they were a walking nightmare right now. Stefan's smirking face was the only thing she saw as she turned around and almost banged her head on the glass of the window as she freaked out at the sight of him so close to her. 'Boo.' He laughed at her and walked away.

'You're so childish.' She snapped at him even though there was no point even talking to him at the moment. He did everything for his own entertainment. He didn't really care.

'And you're such a party pooper.' Stefan called back, chuckling when he saw her face. 'Wow, did I really fall in love with you? You're one miserable bitch.'

'Don't talk to me like that.' She hissed at him.

'I will talk to you however I want to talk to you. If I want to be rude and insult you then I will do so, that is my right just as it's my right as a vampire to snap your little neck and drain you dry.' Stefan gave her a fake smile.

'You have no right to kill people. There is no law saying vampires are allowed to kill humans.' Elena spluttered. She didn't like talking with Stefan any more. He always made her feel concerned for her safety and it was ironic because he was always the one she felt safest with. 'You just seem to think you have some kind of God given right to go round doing what the hell you want.'

'Don't we all?' Stefan asked, raising an eyebrow. 'You eat meat, right? It's the same thing. Why should humans be exempt from the food chain? Why do they always have to be at the top and the very best? Because you decided to be there doesn't make it right, doesn't mean that's how it's always supposed to be. The vampire will always be top of the food chain whether you like it or not.'

'You're not even supposed to be in the food chain.' She pointed out. 'Most people don't even know you exist.'

'More fool them.' Stefan shrugged. 'Let them think that. They're just easier prey that way. You're guaranteed to not get some idiot with garlic spray.' He rolled his eyes. 'Garlic spray, I mean seriously?'

'What are you talking about? Did you attack someone today?'

'I might have.' He smirked again before leaving the room whistling.

'It's the house on the left on the next turning.' Bonnie reminded Damon and he frowned. She didn't have the best of directions even though she was supposed to be a witch and they'd got lost twice. Or should he say _she _had got them lost. He was pissed. He didn't want to be on another errand proving himself to be the perfect boyfriend for Elena. He wanted to _be _with Elena and prove that to her. Preferably in his bed but she was acting like a prude and so he was stuck trying to prove his worth to her in other ways and now he was stuck with the judgey best friend.

He had never known anyone quite so annoying as her. If it wasn't for the fact that she was Elena's best friend he might have used his vampiric speed and snapped her neck by now. Knowing his luck she'd come back as a ghost and haunt him or something of equal horror. She never left him alone. And yet she thought he was the annoying one, he thought with a roll of his eyes.

'I said on the left.' Bonnie hollered as he almost drove onto the wrong driveway. 'Have you been paying attention to a word I've been saying this whole time?'

'If I said no would it shut you up?'

Bonnie took a deep breath and tried to get her temper under control. Normally she was a pretty easy going person but around Damon it took all her self-control not to explode and give him a crippling aneurysm. He knew how to press her buttons; all of them at once she thought. Why the hell Elena thought he'd be suitable boyfriend material she'd never know. He was good looking, sure, if you liked that cold-blooded murderer type, but he was also a douche.

'Stay in the car and let me deal with Anne.' She told him calmly and politely or as calmly and politely as she possibly could be around Damon. As she got out of the car, she wasn't even surprised to hear the sound of his car door slamming shut and him ringing the door bell. He never did listen to her. It was as though Elena was the only person who could actually get through to him. _Douchebag._

'Oh come on Bon-Bons, why are you so slow? I've been standing here for ages.' He complained with a hint of a smile.

At her expense as usual.

A woman came to answer the door. She was small, slight and with neatly kept dark brown hair. She wore a frown on her face so severe it appeared to be a permanent fixture. Damon wanted to laugh at the sight of her, she was a miserable looking human. This was the kind of person Damon loved to kill; to see something other than misery on their faces, to see something replace it even if it was just fear. Why couldn't everyone be as fun as he was? Everyone in this world was too boring and he couldn't stand it. Even Bonnie was as dull as dishwater; her judginess preventing her from being nay fun at all.

'Bonnie.' The woman exclaimed.

'You must be Anne.' Damon smiled. 'My name is Damon Salvatore, it's a pleasure to meet you.'

'Oh.' Anne's eyes widened in surprise at the handsome man on her doorstep. She wasn't used to being charmed by such handsome souls, particularly ones so much younger than her. 'What are you doing here, Bonnie? Is everything okay?'

'We were, uhm, in the area and thought we'd stop by and see how you were coping.' Bonnie winced as she finished the sentence. She hated lying and judging by Damon's smirk he thought she was a pretty awful liar. _Well, we can't all be as good as you, Damon. _

Anne smiled. 'I am doing fine, thank you. I don't think I had the pleasure of introducing you properly to my foster daughter Emme last time, did I?'

'We did meet briefly.' Bonnie replied. Anne called for the girl and she and Damon exchanged quick glances. This had gone a lot easier than they'd expected. Bonnie couldn't help reeling a bit at the sight of the young girl. She'd never noticed it before when she had first met her but now she couldn't deny the unmistakeable link between Emme and Elena. They looked alike, not incredibly alike, Emme was slightly more tanned than Elena was and if she was to be completely honest (and as long as Elena never had to find out) this girl was also better-looking than her friend. But there was deep sadness in her eyes that reminded her of Elena when her parents died-or the people she was led to believe were her parents anyway-and Bonnie was forced to remember how difficult a childhood this young girl was.

'Well, Emme, you remember Bonnie don't you? She was my friend's granddaughter. And this is her friend Damon.' Anne put a slight emphasis on the word 'friend' and Bonnie shivered at the thought that this woman probably believed there was something else going on between her and Damon. 'Emme won't be staying with us for much longer now that she's turned sixteen but I have to say, she has been a joy to have around.'

Both Bonnie and Emme looked startled and Damon just seemed mildly amused. Emme was shocked that Anne even knew that she was capable of complimenting anyone especially her. She thought the old woman hated her and couldn't wait to get rid of her but apparently not. Bonnie was trying to work out just how young Jenna had been when she'd had Emme but there was something else bugging her, something that didn't make any sense whatsoever. But there was no point broaching the subject now in front of them.

'It's nice to meet you.' Emme smiled politely at them trying not to be dazzled by the man's lovely blue eyes. He was so handsome! She'd been visited by two hot guys in one day, she was beyond lucky. Not that either of them seemed that interested in her though.

'Nice meeting you. Bye.' Damon grabbed Bonnie's arm and frogmarched her back to the car. She wriggled free. 'I said we'd come and see she was alive, I never said that we'd hang around and act like pals.'

'We weren't going to act like pals but we weren't going to be rude and run off either.' Bonnie hissed back at him. 'Let me say goodbye.'

'Some other time.' Damon rolled his eyes and walked around to the other side of the car. He couldn't help looking up and meeting Emme's eyes. It scared him. For a brief second it really struck him that it was possible to find someone more beautiful than Elena. There she was and she was…well he wasn't going to finish that sentence because she was too young for him. Well everyone he knew now was except for Stefan but she wasn't even legal for christs sake! But he couldn't stop looking at her.

Bonnie had gone back up to the house to apologise for his rudeness and say goodbye properly. When he saw her embrace Emme, he couldn't help imagining what it would be like if it was him hugging her instead, holding her small body against his own, taking in her smell…. He forced himself to shake the thought from his head and leaned back against his seat and tried to relax. Bonnie got back into the car, slamming the door so loud it made him jump.

'What the fuck is your problem, Judgey?' He demanded. He didn't often swear, he preferred to tease people, but Bonnie was getting on his nerves.

'There's something not quite right about this.'

'There's something not quite right about you either but here we are.' Damon gave her one of his patronising smiles and she rolled her eyes. 'What's wrong now?' He sighed.

'She shouldn't look like that.' Bonnie muttered, as fixated on the girl as he was.

Tell me about it, he thought to himself. Why did she have to be so bloody gorgeous? It just made him annoyed that someone could be that good looking and be so damn out of reach.

'She looks like Elena.'

_A better version. _He shook the thought from his mind.

'Damon.' She shook his arm. 'She's not supposed to look like Elena. She's Jenna's daughter. In theory, Elena and Jenna are not even related so how is it possible for Jenna's daughter to look just like her?'

Damon frowned. He hadn't thought of that but it was true. Emme was a tanned, younger, possibly prettier version of his girlfriend and yet really she shouldn't even look like her. Jenna was the sister of Elena's adoptive mother which meant they weren't technically related so it made no sense that Emme would be so similar to her. And Damon no longer believed in coincidences. There had to be a lot more to this than what met the eye.


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you for your patience!

**Disclaimer**: I own nothing

Chapter Six

'There's something really weird going on.' Bonnie muttered nervously. She was fed up of everything turning into a drama. Why couldn't everything just be simple for once? It wasn't fair any more.

'Something really weird going on? Do I have to remind you that you're sitting in the car with a vampire and you're capable of turning me into smoke with one look and you think the fact that Elena's cousin looks like her is weird?' Damon smirked.

'You know what I mean.' Bonnie glared at him. 'There's something freaky about this. Elena and Emme shouldn't look as similar as they do.'

'Maybe Emme is another doppelganger.' Damon suggested.

That was possible, Bonnie thought to herself but it didn't seem to be the right answer somehow. There was something else, something slimier, more shocking behind this, she could tell and she found it incredibly disturbing. She had a bad feeling about this. 'I don't think that's it. There's something else.' Bonnie added.

Damon raised an eyebrow. 'Is lil judgey having a premonition?'

'It's not a premonition, Damon. It's just a feeling. I can't explain it but there's something odd going on. It makes me feel cold inside.' Bonnie's voice trailed off. It sounded stupid and he was going to laugh at her but she couldn't help it.

Damon frowned. 'It doesn't make any sense to me either.' He shrugged. 'Maybe we're reading too much into it.'

That was another possibility. Ever since Damon Salvatore had come to Mystic Falls Bonnie had found herself reading too much into everything, figuring out all the possibilities, stressing herself out over things that she shouldn't have been stressing out over and she wasn't sure whether that was due to Damon's presence or because of everything that had happened because of his arrival. Some crazy shit had happened since the Salvatores had arrived, there was no doubting that, and Bonnie could scarcely remember a time when life could have been considered 'normal.' What did the word even mean to her now anyway? Normal meant boring and if she wanted to be perfectly honest life wouldn't be the same without Damon and Stefan around.

'We could be.' Bonnie agreed. There was no point discussing it further. They'd done what they had set out to do and now it was done. She didn't have to communicate with Damon again for a while. She felt a sinking feeling in her chest. Why did she feel like this? She spent most of the journey home confused as to why she was feeling the way she was. Damon didn't even notice. He had a brooding expression on his face. It reminded her of Stefan, the old Stefan anyway. The new Stefan was more like Damon than Damon was. That was odd. Klaus had a lot of explaining to do. Bonnie had no reason to admit it to anyone but Klaus was the one person she genuinely feared. He had such control of everything she didn't even know if she was capable of being able to put him down. What he'd done to Stefan was proof of how dangerous he really was and what he was capable of. Stefan had become a different person overnight because of what he'd done to him and sometimes, when she lay in her bed at night, she felt the familiar feeling of despair; would they ever get the real Stefan back?

Damon was smirking by the time they pulled up outside the boarding house and she got out of the car quickly walking away. 'Not even going to say thanks?' He called after her.

She turned around to see his blue eyes twinkling playfully in her direction. 'Thanks for what?'

'For the ride.'

'Oh right…thanks.' Bonnie turned on her heel and stormed away.

'What happened?' Elena demanded as soon as the front door opened and Damon pushed past her and into the house.

'We saw her and she was fine.' Damon said bluntly. There was no need to make her aware of what they had been thinking all the way back home. There was nothing worse than a worried Elena. She was irritating enough; Damon thought to himself and then felt bad for thinking such a thing. She was his girlfriend, he'd fought to have her by his side and now he was thinking this of her? It wasn't exactly fair.

'And?' Elena asked eagerly. 'What was she like? Did she say anything about Stefan?'

'She was fine, Elena.' Damon repeated himself. 'She was absolutely fine. Confused as to who we were but she didn't seem at all hurt or scared. And no, we didn't really speak to her.'

'You went all that way just to look at her and not even to ask her questions?' Elena looked furious. 'And I had to stay here for that?' She glared at him and stormed off into the living room.

This was the moment when she expected him to come running after her, apologising and promising to take her along next time. But this time he wasn't going to do that, he wasn't going to give into her, he'd told her all she needed to know and she didn't need to know anything else. Everything else was just a feeling on Bonnie's part, a slightly odd thing that didn't really need an explanation because it no longer mattered. They weren't going to see Emme again so what on earth did it matter? Elena needed to grow up and stop acting like a drama queen.

It wasn't even an hour later when Bonnie checked her phone and found a rather angry and disturbing message from Elena. She was furious that Damon wasn't telling her everything. Bonnie sighed. She was sick and tired of Elena's hissy fits, sick and tired of the way Elena thought she was the one who mattered the most, she could never see how selfish she was. Why could everyone else see it but her?

She picked up her phone and began texting Damon. She didn't want to get involved in this. If she could just make Damon see that he had to talk to Elena she could steer well clear of it all. She sent him a quick text before going downstairs to make some food. Her dad was out of town again, off on some business trip or something like that, she didn't even take any notice when he spoke to her any more.

She was getting used to being left to her own devices now; she found it more difficult when she had him around. He disrupted her plans, made her mad and she didn't like having him around. She used to be upset 24/7 at her father not being around but now it didn't bother her. She had grown used to her own company and not having to worry about behaving a certain way. It would be tougher now if her father was around because of the whole witch thing so maybe things had worked out for the best.

She heard the beeping of her mobile from upstairs and went to get it when she heard the sound of the front door bell ringing. She frowned. Maybe Elena had taken exception to her ignoring her messages and had decided to come over and shout at her in person. She opened the door slowly surprised to see the dark green eyes of Stefan Salvatore looking back at her. 'What are you doing here?' Her voice was surprisingly gentle, he noted, something he didn't expect from someone who so hated Damon for his behaviour yet treated Stefan like….well like she'd always treated Stefan-as someone who deserved her respect.

'I wanted to talk to you.' His voice came out in small gasps, as if he'd been breathing too hard but he didn't even need to breathe so it puzzled her.

'What about?'

'I need to come in.' He told her angrily.

'No way.' She answered quickly. She wouldn't risk everything for him. She wasn't letting him into her home where he could come back whenever he wanted and cause as much mayhem as he wanted. What if he decided to turn up when her father was back and attacked him or her? The thought was incomprehensible. She could take care of him if she really wanted but she didn't want to subject her father to that. She wanted to protect him. He'd never done a great job protecting her but she'd do her best by him. She was a better parent to him than he was to her.

'I need to speak to you, Bonnie. You have to let me in.' Stefan warned her, smacking his fist against the doorframe in anger. She refused to let him see the way she jumped in shock.

'I don't want to let you inside. I don't trust you.' She hissed at him.

'You have my word I won't do anything to you or your family. I promise you, Bonnie. I need to speak to you and I need to speak to you now.' Stefan's voice rose with impatience as she kept him waiting on the doorstep. 'Bonnie, this is serious and I am not kidding around with you. Let me in.'

Bonnie bit her lip. This was a risk, a reckless risk as far as she was concerned, but if Stefan was being truthful she needed to know. Besides, she was capable of holding her own if he decided to get violent. She'd survived Damon long enough. 'Fine, come in.' She said slowly and uncertainly as he stepped over the threshold into her house. She took a deep breath. This was it. There was no going back now. She could have put herself in some serious danger and she was relying on the word of a mad vampire. Clever little witch, she could almost hear Damon whispering in her ear sarcastically. But she had no choice, she didn't. Stefan was unstable, more than unstable, he was dangerous and devastatingly so, and she knew that she couldn't trust him to take her refusal as some sort of act where he could then take his revenge out on the people of Mystic Falls. Damon had taken Elena's rejection of his kiss in a terrible way, snapping her brother's neck; she didn't know how to expect Stefan to react. But she assumed it could be a hell of a lot worse.

'You've made the right decision.' Stefan told her gently as he strolled through the hallway into the kitchen. 'It would have been only too easy for me to go on a bender and do something stupid. I'm pleased you have enough brains to realise that you would be held responsible for that.'

'What kind of bender?' Bonnie raised an eyebrow trying not to scream at him and frowning. He better not be threatening her or she'd give him the headache of a lifetime.

'The kind of bender that results in the end of several lives.' Stefan smirked. She felt herself begin to shake with the familiar feeling of rage and annoyance she was used to around Damon but this was more than that; she felt something else too, she felt anguish and despair that she could do nothing to stop this. No matter how many headaches she gave him, no matter how many spells she tried to put on him, she couldn't stop him; she couldn't make it better. She couldn't bring the real him back. But was that the real Stefan; was Stefan a good guy or was he just trying to be a good guy all those years? Was this version of him the real Stefan Salvatore?

'You have to stop making empty threats.' Bonnie snapped.

'It's not an empty threat when you know that I am more than capable of doing it. The last thing you want to do is antagonise me.' He warned her.

She bit her lip. She knew it was dangerous to antagonise him, not because he could hurt her but because he could hurt someone else and she couldn't let someone else get hurt because she couldn't control her tongue. She had to control herself, it was the only way. She didn't have the right to jeopardize the lives of others because she wanted to win an argument, she had to protect people from Stefan, not give him more incentive.

'Were you about to eat dinner?' Stefan asked, raising an eyebrow.

'It doesn't matter. What do you have to say?' Bonnie shook her head and tried to concentrate. He was here for a reason and she had to concentrate on this reason. 'What's going on?'

'I know a lot more about Emme than you think and I think, no I _know, _that you are interested in what is going on.' Stefan said calmly. Bonnie rolled her eyes. 'I actually have a lot more information than you thought possible and I have an answer to one of those very interesting questions that you have asked.'

'I haven't asked you anything.' She ruffled her brow in confusion.

'Not me, no, but it seems like you've been looking in the wrong places, associating with the wrong people because all this time you thought Damon could help you and he could do nothing. I know what I can do and I know that I have the key to all of this.'

'Stop speaking in riddles and give me a direct answer.' Bonnie snarled at him, getting seriously fed up of his attitude.

'You're wrong.' He said simply and laughed. 'Bonnie Bennett, the eternal know-it-all, finally gets something wrong. I think I'll cherish this day for all eternity.'

'Shut up, Stefan.' She hissed and stormed out but he caught her arm and held on. 'Stop it, you're hurting me.'

'You can't boss me around anymore, Bonnie Bennett, I might have been stupid once upon a time to think that it was easier to allow you to treat me like dirt but I won't allow that anymore. Carry on how you are, Bonnie Bennett, and I will end you. You might have your witchy spells but that's all you have. I have speed, agility, power, strength, all these things perfectly designed to kill you. Make no mistake, your little tricks might be able to slow me down but they won't stop me and you know it.' Stefan whispered menacingly into her ear and she couldn't stop herself from trembling. There was something completely terrifying about Stefan, something that hadn't scared her with Damon, and she tried hard to not wriggle too much and annoy him further.

She trembled further as he leaned in against her. She couldn't concentrate right now. Part of her wanted to give him an aneurysm and make a run for it but she knew she'd have to come home at some point and he now had an invitation into the only place she'd ever felt safe before. She felt his face inching closer and she wondered if Klaus had ordered this, that he'd ordered her death as some sort of message, and for the first time she felt powerless to stop him. She closed her eyes when she felt his breath on her cheek and wondered if this was it. Was it going to end like this? Then she felt something else; his mouth gently pressed against her cheek. She pulled away and stared at him.

'What are you playing at?' She whimpered as he pulled away.

'That's for me to know and for you to find out.' Stefan smirked and walked away without even bothering to tell her what the important news about Emme was.


End file.
